Anglo Irish Bank has reported a very strong full-year performance, with profits up 50 per cent to €133.6 million (£89.1 million).

Profits at the specialist small to medium-sized business bank were largely driven by strong growth in lending in the Irish and UK market and it has signalled another strong performance in 2001.

Announcing the results for the 12 months to the end of September, Anglo Irish Bank's chief executive, Mr Sean FitzPatrick, said the bank would stick to the same strategy going forward and was confident this would continue to drive profit growth. "We will stick to lending in the Republic and in the UK and have no intention of moving away from these areas for our core business," he said. The bank will continue to look for opportunities to diversify income growth in Europe, focusing on private banking and deposit-gathering acquisitions.

Anglo Irish Bank's shares traded up 10 cents in Dublin yesterday to close at €2.88 on the back of its good performance. Shareholders will be paid a final dividend of 8.7 cents per share, an increase of 20 per cent on 1999. And earnings per share increased by 38 per cent to 29.73 cents.

Mr FitzPatrick refused to comment on whether the bank was interested in buying ICC, which is also a key player in the small to medium-sized business sector and would bring venture capital business to the bank.

Anglo Irish Bank previously considered making a bid for the State-owned bank when it was put up for sale last year but decided not to proceed. But now that Bank of Scotland has been linked to a possible bid for the bank, it could reconsider its position. Mr FitzPatrick said it may look at ICC. The bank's criteria for assessing potential acquisitions still centre on businesses which are similar to its operations. Mr FitzPatrick said making acquisitions was not a "life or death" situation for the bank. Anglo Irish Bank's total assets increased by 39 per cent to €11 billion in the 12 months to the end of September. Customer deposits rose by 40 per cent to €9.8 billion, while lending was up 39 per cent to €7.8 billion. The Irish operations contributed €93.2 million of profits, with the UK bringing in a further €30.6 million. Its Austrian subsidiary generated profits of €9.8 million.